James, Bryant voted to All-NBA first team

NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James was a unanimous pick for the All-NBA team and Kobe Bryant earned his record-tying 11th first-team selection.

James received all 119 votes for the first team from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the U.S. and Canada. Joining the league’s MVP and Bryant on the first team Thursday were Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, San Antonio center Tim Duncan and Clippers guard Chris Paul.

The third team was Houston’s James Harden, Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Lakers center Dwight Howard and forwards Paul George of Indiana and David Lee of Golden State.

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With Coach K back, US can turn attention to roster

With Mike Krzyzewski back as coach, the U.S. can turn its attention to players who could suit up for him over the next three years.

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Thursday the Americans expect about 24 young players in a July 22-25 minicamp in Las Vegas that will finish with an intrasquad scrimmage at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Americans’ next competition is the 2014 World Cup of Basketball in Spain. Colangelo said some of last year’s Olympic gold medalists have already expressed an interest in playing again. They trained in Barcelona before traveling to London.

“But the reality is we will have continued turnover each competition and that’s the way it should be so that the players have the opportunity to look toward the opportunity to represent,” he said on a conference call. “And so I think the roster next summer will have some of the young guys who are going to be working out this summer and some of the carry-overs, and that’s usually the way it plays out.”

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Heat, Pacers say Game 2 should be even better

MIAMI (AP) — Losing a game at the final buzzer, no less than a playoff game on the road against the reigning NBA champion Miami Heat, would seem to have potential to demoralize the Indiana Pacers.

Barely 12 hours after LeBron James scored on a drive as time expired in overtime to give the Heat a win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers were more steeled than shaken when they arrived for practice at the arena where it all went awry in the series opener. The second-guessing of Vogel’s decision to keep Roy Hibbert on the bench for the final play was still going strong, but the Pacers insisted that they’re mentally fine.

A short memory would likely help Indiana now, especially with Game 2 of the series back in Miami on Friday night.

“Very encouraged,” Vogel said. “Our belief in our ability to beat this team has strengthened after Game 1. Our familiarity in the playoffs, in the playoff series grows with each day, grows with each game, and there’s a lot of things we can definitely do better.”